Maidens

I pull out a chopping board and pull out leerdammer cheese, quite squishy almost rubbery even. I cut a slice of it out, a cube and a stick of it, I noticed with the meats if I cut them a certain way or was a bit rough with the handling then they just tasted different. Trying the cheeses, they all had slight differences depending on the shape. The blue cheeses were quite nice, though the odour was a bit intimidating.

With this I set forth to make a cheese incorporated dish, nothing fancy. I might melt the mature cheddar one onto toast, I feel like that would be quite nice.

10 minutes later and it was lovely, simple and indulgent at the same time. I should probably start trying to make a menu of some kind here, but do I need to?

My thoughts were interrupted by the door bell being chimed, I'm hoping it's someone new. So far everyone's had their unique stories and payment. "Coming!"

I wash my hands and turn the corner to see a woman standing there, regular height and brown hair. She had a green cloak on and an odd tattoo under her eye.

"Welcome to Oliverick's bar, what can I get you?"

"Something strong." Seems like she has a story at least, I'll wait and see for the payment.

I poured a pint of lager out, I would've used the 9% mead but it isn't ready yet. "What's troubling you?"

She took a swig and sighed, "My name is Melina, of the golden order. I am currently guiding the tarnished so that one of them may take the throne, unfortunately it seems, they're all… inept. Let me ask you something, when fighting any kind of large being, what weapon would you use?"

I thought about it for a moment before saying, "Something large I suppose, it would get their kneecaps in at least."

"Thank Marika I wasn't going crazy, they keep using daggers! Saying something about how lazy 'strength builds' are, I don't get it, I'm running out of tarnished to guide." She rested her head in her hands as she sighed. "Ranni the witch even gave them a spirit calling bell, but apparently that's 'cheating'! Not to mention how hardly any of them craft anything, are the cookbooks wrong or something?" 

I slowly push another pint to her, "Speaking of Ranni! That harlot keeps trying to marry them! However part of her whole thing has her take them to a giant rot lake, and of course tarnished being tarnished, they walk right into it" She rested her head on the side before carrying on, "The only thing I like about the tarnished so far is that they all at least try to avoid attacks, but the rolling just looks ridiculous! Just sidestep, or even turn your body!"

[Bartending lv1]

[Bartending lv2]

[Bartending lv3]

Is this part of the job? Giving out drinks and listening to someone complain is bartending? How odd, but she's still going, she's speeding through my Bartending skill, it's a bit scary even. I'm just trying to find a break for her to point on the map where she found the door, I think she got the point when I handed her a door sticker and slid the map across. She placed it down on some castle southmost of the map.

Pint after pint, she told me her sob story even as some sorcerers came back. Though this time they just had a few drinks, some boiled crab claws and left paying with runes, I did tell them to grab me a staff if they could next time.

Finally, god knows how many drinks in, she called it a day. Apparently one of her tarnished reached a checkpoint for her to take them to roundtable hold. So she slapped down a sigil and said, "That turns runes into power, I'll be back tomorrow"

I found my first regular at least, the sigil stuck to my palm when I picked it up and it engrained itself into me. "Uh, runes to power, right. Runes, make me not so skinny"

[Oliverick 

Age: 10 days

Height: 8 foot 6 inches

Race: Numen

Vigor: 18

Strength: 22

Dexterity: 23

Mind: 14

Endurance: 20

Intelligence: 12

Faith: 25

Arcane: 17

[Cooking lv8]

[Butchery lv6]

[Knife handling lv3]

[Cleaning lv12]

[Mead making lv2]

[Observe lv4]

[Knife throwing lv7]

[Glintstone sorcery lv1]

[Bartending lv3]

[Reading lv2]

Ah right, I think it worked, I feel like I'll be able to hoist that cleanrot knight around easier now. Not to mention there's a bit of thickness in my body now, though I think I might've realised something about my stats.

They may go up as I raise certain skills, dexterity could be naturally high as I spend my time cooking, preparing things and knife throwing. Faith could be that high since I was literally born from the multiverse, maybe it's automatic that I believe quite strongly in it. 

I start cleaning the kitchen up once again, putting everything away into the vast multitude of cupboards and shelves I have available. Part of the reason my cleaning is so high. I don't know why but I get this odd feeling, like I need to prepare for something big. It doesn't feel dangerous, just that it could be if it decides to be.

The bell chimes and I turn to see a large cloaked figure shamble in through the door, it was hunched over limping on all four limbs. Though I wasn't able to see anything aside a beastly snout.

"Death, feed me death…" His hands were pressed down on the counter, I could almost hear the wood straining to keep shape beneath him.

"I have a few corpses if you have any in mind."

"Deathroot, feed me it" The awkward and scary silence didn't seem to mitigate his behaviour, if anything he was staring me down harder.

"I'm gonna be honest, I've never heard of that before. Do you have an example? I can duplicate stuff in my kitchen." He reaches into his cloak and pulls out a black plant bulb, sliding it across the counter to me.

I take it into the kitchen, my intuition guiding me to a now empty spot on a shelf. I place it on and take 10 copies of the deathroot. Coming back, I set them down on the counter and he looks at them skeptically. All before throwing them all into his maw.

Chewing them for a moment he ingests them all before me, it was a little bit awkward watching this. Silently now, he reaches into his cloak and pulls out a giant hammer, several pieces of paper, a weird rocky egg and a white rock. 

"Bestial incantation" He says pointing at the paper. "Talisman" He points at the egg. "Smithing" He points at the rock. "I will return once more" And with that he left, with me forgetting to ask where he entered from. Probably for the best since it wouldn't be ideal for people to be messing around him.

Now I look over the papers, left completely to do so. They all seem based on claw attacks, specifically his claw attacks, assuming his name is Gurranq. I grab the talisman in my hand and attempt the first one on the pile.

A room opens up on the side, opening into a large blank room. It would probably be best to do this all here instead of damaging the tables. I ready myself to use the bestial sling and I send rocks that appeared from nowhere in front of me. I spend the next few hours cycling through the different incantations given, even trying a few swings with that warhammer.

[Bestial incantations lv5]

[Warhammer technique lv2]

[Reading lv3]

+2 int

+1 str

Definitely a hell of a work out, not to mention how difficult it was to memorise and learn the incantations. I got out and showered, coming back to see an odd blue figure waiting patiently at the bar.

"Oh I'm sorry I was just having a shower, welcome to Oliverick's bar. What can I get for you?" I feel quite bad, I have no idea how long she's been waiting.

"I'm afraid my current form is rather unable to appreciate anything you have to offer Mr Oliverick. I was simply curious about the door that appeared in my tower, and the intentions of the one on the other side."